INDIA in F1

Tag: Sherco TVS Rally

  • Historic victory for Harith Noah in Rally2 class at Dakar 2024

    Historic victory for Harith Noah in Rally2 class at Dakar 2024

    Yanbu (Saudi Arabia), 19 January 2024: Sherco TVS Rally Factory team rider Harith Noah clinched a historic victory at Dakar Rally 2024 by winning the Rally 2 category in the Motorcycle section at the coveted cross-country rally which concluded here on Friday.

    “It’s amazing. It’s amazing stuff. Crazy. It’s crazy to do what I have done. I am so happy,” is the immediate exclusive reaction of Harith Noah from Saudi Arabia after he realised his Rally2 victory.

    He clocked an overall 54hours, 24minutes and 44seconds for the 12 gruelling stages in 14 days and finished an overall 11th place in the general ranking and also won his class, the Rally2 class which saw 110 riders take the start.

    The 30-year old from Kerala, Harith Noah, concluded his good run at the mighty Dakar 2024 with a cautious 5th place in the 328-km 12th stage in the Rally2 class today and managed to retain his 11th position in the overall general rankings in the main class. His victory in the Rally 2 class is the first by an Indian rider. With the dominating performance in one of the most-demanding and toughest cross-country rallies in the world, the Sports Science graduate from Shoranur in Kerala, entrenched himself in the annals of Indian motorsports with a milestone achievement.

    Astride a 450SEF Rally bike tuned by Sherco TVS rally factory team, Noah began the prologue on January 5 in a cautious way finishing 29th but increased the tempo to finish P22 in the very first Stage, the next day. He managed to improve his riding with stunning results after each stage and each day, thereafter. Staying put in the top-20, he delivered a killer punch in the toughest Stage 6, that had two days of ‘48-hour Chrono’ marathon rallying. Noah, made the best use of the difficult conditions to shoot to P13 overall.

    On Jan 15, with four days to go he touched his peak dishing out his career-best with an Overall P5 and a stage win in his class, the Rally2 category. Later, he won the stage again in the penultimate round and clinched the issue on the final day with a Rally2 victory. He also got a note-worthy 11th place in the main Motorcycle category that saw 142 riders from all over the world take the start.

    Noah is sponsored by Sherco TVS Factory Rally Team, TVS Racing, Red Bull and Casio. In 2021, he became the fastest from India at Dakar finishing in 20th place and became the third Indian to finish the prestigious Dakar rally.

    “I’m happy that I’ve finished. That was the main goal. I’m really blessed to be here. I learned a lot this year, especially during the second week. I felt really strong and it’s something to build on for next year. I tried to not have any expectations. I just tried to ride every kilometre, one at a time. It’s a really nice feeling to get fifth overall in Stage 10 and to know that you have it in you. It feels good to win. I hope it motivates other riders, younger riders, to do the same or try to pursue their dreams and grow the sport. I never thought when I was a child that I would be here on the Dakar. Then I did my first Dakar, then I finished in 2021, which was amazing, and now here I am winning my Rally 2 class. I’m happy,” said a jubilant Noah, before the result got confirmed. A racer of different breed, Harith Noah does not look at the results after every stage, lest they disturb his rhythm.

  • Harith Noah suffers engine failure, moves into Dakar Experience class

    Harith Noah suffers engine failure, moves into Dakar Experience class

    Bisha (Saudi Arabia), 13 Jan 2022:  TVS Racing Factory rider Harith Noah, who bravely pulled on for 11 days despite crashes and fractured ribs, suffered technical issues with the bike on Wednesday to be classified as 115th in the General Ranking of the Moto section of the 44th Dakar Rally here.

    Noah, who was placed 124 after Stage 10, is expected to begin the penultimate stage in the ‘Dakar Experience’ class on Thursday, which provides a second chance for the riders to continue the gruelling 7000 km cross-country rally-raid and experience the finish. But he will not be classified any more in the elite RallyGP class.

    Astride a Sherco 450 SEF Rally, the Kerala rider started his 12th day with a new engine at 10.38 am (IST) but was forced to stop within after 43 kilometres due to mechanical problems with the bike as his engine failed. He could not even reach the first WayPoint and later, he had to endure the heart-break of watching his bike craned away by a helicopter.

    He clocked a total of 66 hours, 22 minutes and 42 seconds in the Overall timesheets after logging a penalty time of 21 hours and 45 minutes for a General Ranking of 115. After Stage 10, he was given a time of 33H 33min including a penalty of 21H 30min for a Stage ranking of 124.

    The 28-year old TVS star became the fastest rider from India at Dakar last year after finishing in the 20th position. He made his debut in 2020 and finished in the Dakar Experience class. Bangalore’s CS Santosh became the first Indian at Dakar in 2015 and went on to ride many times at the pinnacle of the rallying world till his unfortunate accident last year. KP Arvind of TVS Racing and privateer Ashishrao Rane also took part in the Dakar. Santosh is yet to recover completely but is in Saudi Arabia to cheer the Hero team.

    “It is a big disappointment. We changed the engine yesterday and I was hoping to make up the places we lost due to the penalty and push ahead the last two days. The terrain and the conditions are always challenging both for the man and machine and it is time to move on and finish the Dakar. I will take this experience to come back stronger,” promised Noah, who is in his third Dakar.

    Despite the setback with Noah, the other two Sherco TVS Factory Rally team riders finished the day in top-10. Lorenzo Santolino of Spain continued to put in brilliant performance and finished the stage in P5 while the other Sherco TVS rider Rui Goncalves from Portugal, also did well, closing the day at P9. In the overall general ranking, Santolino is 11th while Goncalves is placed 24th.

    The other Indian team of Hero MotoSports, too, continued to post good times to stay in the top-20. Lead Portuguese rider Joaquim Rodrigues finished a tough day in 24th place after a 15-min penalty while the second Hero rider Aaron Mare of South Africa finished Stage 10 in 14th place. In the Overall general rankings, JRod is in 15th position followed by Mare in 16th.

    The 7000-plus km Dakar rally, being held for the third year in Saudi Arabian desert sands will conclude on January 14.

  • Arvind KP rides brilliantly to finish Stage 6: Dakar Rally

    Arvind KP rides brilliantly to finish Stage 6: Dakar Rally

    Lorenzo Santolino is airlifted for treatment. A Dakar Rally image

    San Juan de Marcona, 14 Jan 2019: After a long wait of about 20 minutes, at 2.20am (IST) Arvind Prabhakar’s time was up on the Dakar site after the previous rider finished the WayPoint 7 and it was only a matter of time that Aravind KP finished the tough and challenging Stage 6 838 km with an impressive time. The Sherco TVS Rally Factory team rider was doing extremely well before losing time in the fag end. Nevertheless, he finished overall 48th, his bike number after a brilliant 44th in the stage classification.

    Meanwhile, his teammate, the top-flying rookie rider Lorenzo Santolino bowed out of the Dakar 2019, 33km into the stage as he was air-lifted for medical attention. The Sherco-TVS rider was one of the breakout stars of the Dakar so far, with his best-ever finish to the day coming just two days prior on Stage 5. He had to be airlifted to Lima where further assessment of his injuries will take place.

    The team had a day to forget with just a glimmer of hope coming from KP Aravind who rode extremely well to finish the day 44th, climbing up quite a few spots in the overall rankings. He is currently 48th and should aim to climb a few more spots. Michael was the better of the two Metge brothers finishing the day in 31st. That did bump him down a number of positions in the overall standings, to 36th in fact, but not as much as his brother Adrien who had a miserable day at the office. Adrien ended the day at 77th spot, which has seen him plummet down the overall standings to 33rd.

    Hero MotoSports had no casualties to report but their standings too were slightly hampered in the overall stage progression. Since Lorenzo’s crash, Oriol Mena has taken over as the top rider from an Indian team. He was 20th over the course of the day which has seen him slide down a spot in the overall rankings, to 13th. The day started off strongly for his teammate Joaquim Rodrigues but he stopped to help Oriol out as the latter ran his fuel tank dry. He had to rebuild the aux tank and thus finished the day in 30th. He is 25th in the overall tally now. Hero hopes both its riders will challenge for better results in the days to come.